Going to college! what should i study? im a leftist

[goldenboy2421]

Hey everyone. Well i applied to some universities and have gotten accepted to some.im a leftist and i like learning about marxism and politics kinda,well politics that are leftist. I applied as an engineer but then my parents were telling me that i should study what i love, so that i wont hate my job. Welll and suggestions? cuz i was thinking economics and poli sci. but idk. I want something that will help make this transition to socialism possible. give me your insights please.

[Catmatic Leftist]

Don't worry too much about majors. Examine your physical and cognitive strengths and interests and explore and look into various subjects, and then make an informed decision from there. Most people change their major, sometimes even more than once, anyways. Good luck, comrade.

[Quail]

You should just study whatever you're interested in. You could always take some politics modules alongside the engineering ones. I'm studying maths, which has absolutely nothing to do with socialism.

[Futility Personified]

Social Psychology or something to do with social work?

[Jose Gracchus]

Ultimately, it is very difficult for us to make the value judgments which are and remain highly personal in nature involving your choices of study at university. Furthermore, if you're looking for a 'leftist education', you won't find it laid out for you in any mainstream educational institution.

For instance, I started university as a pre-medical student majoring in chemistry and economics (business administration listing, versus the liberal arts). Well, I also took some history courses, and ended up first abandoning the idea I'd go to medical school. Then I swapped by economics major into the liberal arts college. Then I dropped chemistry for history. Then I began also taking classical studies (Latin, ancient Roman history, classical political thought, etc.), anthropology, and biology, zoological, and public policy classes related to my environmental and ecological interests. Now I'm about to graduate and I'm a history, economics, anthropology major. Now I think math and natural or physical science was highly important to my education. Being personally exposed to the practice of real science teaches you how to conduct research, to evaluate evidence, to generate and challenge hypotheses. It shows you what a productive community of knowledge looks like. It gives you actually a lot of perspective moving into the ideological subjects as I did. You rapidly pick up on the groupthink and party-lines that are tacit in subjects like, 20th century history. In order to get much out of these classes you'll have to look at what you're taught critically, and probably self-supplement with alternative works and scholarship.

The core is that you actually enjoy and will be self-motivated to continue and to develop your education. Give yourself some ability - to the extent you are able - to support yourself and be able to maintain a stable life. And exploit opportunities to learn useful skills and new points of view that will help you personally as well as politically. Adaptativeness and recognizing opportunity is more important than any plan, as life is highly dynamic. It hardly conforms to the schemes we set for it.

[Tommy4ever]

Hey everyone. Well i applied to some universities and have gotten accepted to some.im a leftist and i like learning about marxism and politics kinda,well politics that are leftist. I applied as an engineer but then my parents were telling me that i should study what i love, so that i wont hate my job. Welll and suggestions? cuz i was thinking economics and poli sci. but idk. I want something that will help make this transition to socialism possible. give me your insights please.

Which Unis have you applied to?

I'm at a similar stage to you as I'm currently recieving offers from Unis. I applied for history. History is a good course to take as it give you an opportunity to study a very wide range of subjects. For example at UCL, one of the Unis I've applied to, there is a course called ''Marx and History'' which I imagine would be very interesting for a leftist.

But in truth you can studying pretty much any social science and use a leftist perspective. For example English is a very easy subject for you to approach as a leftist as, due to its openess, you can approach most questions from pretty much any perspective you want.

So if you want to flex our socialist intellectual muscles I'd go for some sort of essay based social science. But this comes from someone who enjoys writing essays. :blushing:

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

If you don't know for certain what you want to do, don't go - it will be a waste of time and money. Shitty lesson that too many students learn the hard way.

[apawllo]

here's a similar thread: http://www.revleft.com/vb/college-majors-t147690/index.html

think the general consensus was that you shouldn't formally learn to be a leftist. you could be an engineer who raises class consciousness just as you could be a political scientist who does so.

[Ocean Seal]

Hey everyone. Well i applied to some universities and have gotten accepted to some.im a leftist and i like learning about marxism and politics kinda,well politics that are leftist. I applied as an engineer but then my parents were telling me that i should study what i love, so that i wont hate my job. Welll and suggestions? cuz i was thinking economics and poli sci. but idk. I want something that will help make this transition to socialism possible. give me your insights please.

Well if you're an incoming freshman, you don't have to choose yet. In any case if you want to be an engineer and study leftist politics at the same time, it could work, but then again its ultimately you're choice. And being someone who only knows as a fellow forumer and leftist, I'm not sure how well I can advise you. But do what you love.

[Magón]

School shouldn't be about what your political leaning is. (Although, going to a more liberal college/uni would be best, if you don't want as big of a headache, as you would in a conservative/non-liberal school.) As for what you should learn, school, especially higher education, is focused on what you personally want to do in life after, and so you should focus on what it is you like to do, outside of politics, rather than having your life revolve around the pointless political discussions that most schools have. (It's either Pro-Dem, anti-Rep; or vise versa. And sometimes Pro-GPUSA, etc.)

[Sixiang]

School shouldn't be about what your political leaning is. (Although, going to a more liberal college/uni would be best, if you don't want as big of a headache, as you would in a conservative/non-liberal school.) As for what you should learn, school, especially higher education, is focused on what you personally want to do in life after, and so you should focus on what it is you like to do, outside of politics, rather than having your life revolve around the pointless political discussions that most schools have. (It's either Pro-Dem, anti-Rep; or vise versa. And sometimes Pro-GPUSA, etc.)

I agree with this.

You aren't going to find too much pro-leftism at colleges. Just study whatever you are interested in/will get you to the job you may want. You can be anything from engineer, to doctor, to teacher, to a lot of other things. If you're interested in social sciences (political science being one of them), you could be a social worker or a teacher and study in really any of the social sciences: sociology, history, geography, etc.

A warning about political science in college: my brother was a poli sci major and he hated it when he got into the field. He spent 4 years to get a bachelors degree. Now he is in debt for the rest of his life. He worked on the campaign for a democratic candidate in the last election in America and he saw firsthand how corrupt the whole political system was. Now he's a substitute teacher and wants nothing to do with politics, unless it is in direct opposition to the state. Political science programs in universities are really just about training you to get involved in the government or political system of the country. The only alternative I see to use with a degree in the major is to teach.

[apawllo]

A warning about political science in college: my brother was a poli sci major and he hated it when he got into the field. He spent 4 years to get a bachelors degree. Now he is in debt for the rest of his life. He worked on the campaign for a democratic candidate in the last election in America and he saw firsthand how corrupt the whole political system was. Now he's a substitute teacher and wants nothing to do with politics, unless it is in direct opposition to the state. Political science programs in universities are really just about training you to get involved in the government or political system of the country. The only alternative I see to use with a degree in the major is to teach.

Pretty much. A lot of the courses are geared toward that specifically in my experience. I had a class called something like "Campaigns and Elections" during the 2008 election cycle in which the professor, Paul Leonard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Leonard_%28politician%29), split the class into Republicans and Democrats, and we were to debate how each candidate should be conducting his or her campaign while watching clips of Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. Final papers were to discuss the reasons why Barack Obama's campaign allowed him to win the election. It was a joke...I didn't show up half the time. And granted, I didn't go to an amazing school so it's likely a bit different elsewhere, but basically, if you decide to take political science, be prepared for a fair amount of bourgeois political intake that you likely don't care for.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

Sociology and history are interesting subjects that have a lot of room for leftist analysis.

[Jose Gracchus]

Sociology and history are interesting subjects that have a lot of room for leftist analysis.

But that participation is always tacitly unwelcome.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

But that participation is always tacitly unwelcome.

not always true. all of my essays are informed by leftist theory provided it is relevant and the arguments are worthwhile. plus marx was a founding father of modern sociology and is influential in the study of history too (hobsbawm for example). leftist thought is very welcome in sociology, granted there is a lot of right wing social theory too, but its hard to denounce the left influence in the subject.

history and sociology are great subjects for leftists, and all leftists essentially study those subjects to some extent in their day to day analysis of the world.

[Aeval]

Hey everyone. Well i applied to some universities and have gotten accepted to some.im a leftist and i like learning about marxism and politics kinda,well politics that are leftist. I applied as an engineer but then my parents were telling me that i should study what i love, so that i wont hate my job. Welll and suggestions? cuz i was thinking economics and poli sci. but idk. I want something that will help make this transition to socialism possible. give me your insights please.

Your parents are right :) do you not love engineering then? are you passionate about economics and political science? if not then maybe you shouldn't go for these. if you study politics then you'll probably have to learn a lot of stuff you completely disagree with and there will no doubt be a number utterly reactionary people in your class - can you put up with having to argue with them every week? (this is reason number 1 why I'd never do a politics degree :lol:) beyond leftist politics what do you find interesting and want to know more about? or what do you get a buzz about studying? are you someone who works well with numbers? do you prefer to analyse texts? do you want to do something with real world applications or is something theoretical more appealing? or do you want to do something creative?

I study languages, this means I get to dip in to history, linguistics, literature, film studies, philosophy, politics, media studies, sociology, gender studies, etc etc - pretty much every humanities/social science subject to be honest, plus gaining a practical skill. Which works for me as I like being a bit of a jack of all trades, focusing just on history or something for a long period of time would suck - for me, obviously other people love it - but yea, just find what suits you and don't worry about being an über leftist, or doing something prestigious, life's too short to study something you don't get on with

[Sixiang]

not always true. all of my essays are informed by leftist theory provided it is relevant and the arguments are worthwhile. plus marx was a founding father of modern sociology and is influential in the study of history too (hobsbawm for example). leftist thought is very welcome in sociology, granted there is a lot of right wing social theory too, but its hard to denounce the left influence in the subject.

history and sociology are great subjects for leftists, and all leftists essentially study those subjects to some extent in their day to day analysis of the world.
Absolutely. I took a sociology class this year and we covered Marx in the first chapter along with other key minds to the foundation of the field like Durkheim and others.

I imagine you could also try philosophy.
*waits for Rosa*

[The American]

Study psychology just to have the ability to summon hordes of quotes and scientific rebuttals when morons say "hurr socialism goes against human nature"

[black magick hustla]

study what you like but also take into account the job related aspects of it cuz after you have to pay back the state for your loans you dont want to be serving coffee which is a perfectly fine job except when you have a 50k loan hovering over you

[smk]

study something which will get you a job. it doesn't help you if you are doing nothing with your degree working in a job which you can't pay back your loans with. engineering, chemistry, physics, mathematics, economics, any allied health fields, and business (:rolleyes:), are all good for this.

I say business only in half-jest. You dont have to be the archetypal ruthless, blood sucking capitalist if you work in business. my friend went to a top 5 MBA school and is now working with Muhammad Yunus's Grameen Bank.
[google social entrepreneurship if you are still interested.]

[Lacrimi de Chiciură]

You might want to consider anthropology, especially cultural or social anthropology. Linguistics is also an interesting field. Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics. Don't worry about getting a "good job." All the good jobs are being cut anyways. Soon there will be no schools so go to one while they still exist. And if you have too much debt, you can always fake your own death and move to another country, or better yet start a revolution and abolish currency.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Take at least one industrial like class.

Welding for example.

Good Skills.

Also, in all your classes, there are workers, but the sole purpose of welding classes is to find work.

[black magick hustla]

You might want to consider anthropology, especially cultural or social anthropology. Linguistics is also an interesting field. Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics. Don't worry about getting a "good job." All the good jobs are being cut anyways. Soon there will be no schools so go to one while they still exist. And if you have too much debt, you can always fake your own death and move to another country, or better yet start a revolution and abolish currency.

worst suggestion ever

[NoOneIsIllegal]

And if you have too much debt, you can always fake your own death and move to another country
Not necessary. I'm dirt poor (see: too much debt) and am going through school purely on huge amounts of Pell Grants. Schwing! I'd assume anyone else who lives on or near minimum wage should be able to do the same, considering the Obama administration recently increased funding for Federal Pell Grants.

[Iraultzaile Ezkerreko]

Pretty much. A lot of the courses are geared toward that specifically in my experience. I had a class called something like "Campaigns and Elections" during the 2008 election cycle in which the professor, Paul Leonard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Leonard_%28politician%29), split the class into Republicans and Democrats, and we were to debate how each candidate should be conducting his or her campaign while watching clips of Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. Final papers were to discuss the reasons why Barack Obama's campaign allowed him to win the election. It was a joke...I didn't show up half the time. And granted, I didn't go to an amazing school so it's likely a bit different elsewhere, but basically, if you decide to take political science, be prepared for a fair amount of bourgeois political intake that you likely don't care for.

If you study something that is actually worthwhile in PoliSci, like International Politics or Comparative Politics, you study a lot of theory and mostly talk about different systems and their statistical outcomes and such. Way more interesting than listening to some political hack who doesn't know the first thing about ACTUAL PoliSci rant about elections for a semester. I've only ever looked at elections as sources for statistical modeling and probabilistic outcomes. You can't do anything more with elections because the individuals who are elected can do whatever the fuck they want. All you can do is say "Oh, pure-PR gives minority parties much more power than FPTP." Analyzing campaigns and policy outcomes from elections is for those who just want to be a talking-head on t.v. and spout bullshit all day.

[sologdin]

like learning about marxism and politics kinda,well politics that are leftist

you'll learn what you like whether you're in school or not. if you want to learn politics, then you might seek out instruction in non-leftwing politics from conservative instructors, who should in no event be difficult to procure. marxism is after all an immanant critique, which, in professor harvey's description:



selects some tradition, ideological premise, or institutionalized orthodoxy for analysis. As immanent critique, it then 'enters its object,' so to speak, 'boring from within.' Provisionally accepting the methodological presuppositions, substantive premises, and truth-claims of orthodoxy as its own, immanent critique tests the postulates of orthodoxy by the latter's own standards of proof and accuracy. Upon 'entering' the theory, orthodoxy's premises and assertions are registered and certain strategic contradictions located. These contradictions are then developed according to their own logic, and at some point in this process of internal expansion, the one-sided proclamations of orthodoxy collapse as material instances and their contradictions are allowed to develop 'naturally.'"


direct knowledge of non-leftist ideas, systems, and so on is accordingly critical--otherwise, what use is all that fine marxist reading that you're doing? (it might well be that vocal adherence to marxism is an effective dominance display in mating rituals on college campuses, but that's an off-label usage.)

[smk]

Even an engineering major would have time to read during his free time. Your major doesn't define you life. Learn something which can get you a job at school while you learn what you want at home.

[southernmissfan]

Many of the previous posters have provided good input so much of this might be redundant.

-Don't expect college to "train" or even educate you on being a leftist or left politics/ideology/philosophy. To explore leftist politics and Marxism, best bet is to do your own reading and research and participate in real world struggle/activism/organizing. The good thing about this is that via libraries and especially the internet, virtually any leftist or Marxist writing you could desire is available to read free of charge.
-Your parents are right. Not only will college consist of years of courses, it also will be the primary determinant in your future career. It is critical to choose a major that you enjoy and that will be useful for your post-graduation plans. As already mentioned by some, you probably don't have to decide on a major just yet.
-Some will argue college should be about learning and personal expansion of knowledge. Others will argue it is all about training and preparation for a career. You should strive to balance both. You want college to be an enriching learning experience. But at the same time, you don't want to come out after a few years and potentially thousands in debt with no real use value for it. So don't go simply for the sake of going, as it is too time consuming and expensive, especially when you can learn so much on your own. At the same time, treating it purely as pre-career prep work makes it more of a job, less enjoyable and diminishes some of the experience, particularly if you only chose a major for career reasons.
-Which brings me to the next point. You want a major that you are interested in and that will assist you with a career you are interested in. Having a major you love but won't help a bit with after college plans is not a good idea. On the other hand, having a major that you dislike but will be very helpful for a career will not make you happy. So try to find subject areas you are interested in and enjoy, then research what job/career opportunities exist for those subjects.
-Ask yourself if you want to have a career that is related to your politics or if you want to learn more about politics but don't necessarily have to have a career related to it. Being a communist doesn't mean that all of a sudden there is a list of "acceptable" majors/careers. There are certain majors and careers that leftists tend to gravitate to, though for many of them it is arguable whether it's positive. A good example would be the somewhat high ratio of at least nominally leftist folks in academia. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you desire to be isolated from the real world in your ivory tower in order to participate in smug futility. Though admittedly there are some exceptions to this negative stereotype. There are also certain majors and careers that would be contradictory to your beliefs, such as being a cop. Other than that, find something you enjoy and can see yourself having a future in. The latter part (future) means not only looking at potential long term enjoyment but actual realistic chances of being able to pursue it.
-To kind of summarize, don't feel obligated to do something necessarily leftist or political with your major or career. Don't "waste" college by getting a useless degree and end up with the same job prospects you have now. After all, college is a kind of investment (a lengthy and expensive one!) and you do at least want some use value to show for it. On the other hand, if you are too focused on future job prospect and financial gain, you will probably not enjoy your major or the career and regret it. Find a major that is enjoyable/interesting to you AND useful for job/career prospects.

Have you considered teaching? Maybe I am biased since this is my own path but here's what I can tell you. At least where I'm at, secondary education is actually your minor, with the content area being your major. So technically I will be receiving a bachelor's degree in social science, with a teaching certification track. Keep in mind it works differently for elementary and special ed. But in secondary, you get to take the majority of your upper level courses in your content area. Then of course you will have a career where you will continue to make use of your enjoyment of a content area. That was one of my motivations. I'm interested in "social studies", especially history and politics. So this allows me to explore this interest both in college and as a career. The social science major will allow me to teach any social studies subject, including history, government, economics, geography, etc. In addition, teaching is typically a highly unionized profession. You also have the potential to make a difference and positively impact people's lives, which is the best aspect of the job. Not to say you are going to change the world. On the contrary, it's a difficult job that is typically underpaid and under appreciated (leading to a lot of disillusionment). But the potential is there to have more of a positive contribution both on individual and societal levels than the vast majority of possible careers.

[brigadista]

what are your choices?

maybe you could get involve with a community organisation while you are at college?

but i am not in the USA so i dont really know how things work there